Foreign BioFuel

Use of biodiesel being promoted
di-ve.com, Malta - 6 hours agoVALLETTA, Malta (di-ve news) -- June 02, 2006 -- 1330CEST -- The Ministry for Resources and Infrastructure is using biodiesel for around twenty of its vehicles ...

State urged to clarify biodiesel aim
Bangkok Post, Thailand - 22 hours agoVague state biodiesel policy is hindering plans to increase the supply of alternative fuels, according to Bangchak Petroleum Plc, the state-run oil refiner. ...

Brazilian ethanol exports expand
Agencia Brasil, Brazil - 1 hour agoThe Japonese intention to invest US$ 528.33 million (R$ 1.2 billion) in the Brazilian agro-energy program, which is geared to produce ethanol and biodiesel. ...

Get On The Bus -- The Biodiesel Bus

Get On The Bus -- The Biodiesel Bus

After hearing so many reports that vehicles running around New Haven fueled by veggie oil smell like French fries, this reporter was a little disappointed that the exhaust from Bus No.13 in Yale’s shuttle bus fleet – fueled by 100 percent vegetable oil from Yale’s dining halls – did not make my mouth water. But it has other advantages.

New Haven Bus Service contracts with Yale to run its shuttle service. About 18 months ago, said company President Dan Miley (pictured), Yale contacted him and “wanted to be pro-active” in cleaning up vehicle pollution. So he agreed to run his buses on ultra-low sulfur diesel, which cuts sulfur pollution from 500 parts per million to 15. He said it costs him 20 percent more, but he’s willing to do it because of his longstanding relationship with Yale.

Then Miley installed DOCs – diesel oxygenating catalytic converters – which reduced pollution further.

“Six months ago, we wondered what else we could do, and we added 20 percent commercially developed soybean oil [B-20],” Miley said. “We wanted to make sure it didn’t affect dependability because we are part of security – our buses run 24 hours a day, seven days a week.” Miley said he found, if anything, the soybean/diesel blend makes the engines run even smoother.

Then at the end of last semester he was contacted by Yale’s chemistry department, where students had been working on a so-called yellow biodiesel project, converting cooking oil into biodiesel.

The project originated with a student who wanted to run his car on vegetable oil. He contacted Professor David Johnson, a research scientist at Yale. Through a simple process they separated the glycerin -- a harmless byprodcut -- from the biofuel. "By removing the glycerin from vegetable oil," Johnson said, "we essentially reduce its flashpoint from 600 degrees to 300 degrees, which allows us to use it as a heating oil. Any car, truck or bus will run on it with minimal modifications."

Yale’s recycling coordinator C.J. May said, "My students began collecting fry grease from dining halls – Yale generates 2,500 gallons of fry grease a year. Sometimes people leave French fries in it and it’s kind of gross.” The oil is strained before being processed.

Miley said he had experimented with increasing the percentage of biodiesel in Bus 13. As graduation approached, he wondered, “Why don’t we push the envelope here? It ran good at 30 percent, no notice of any problems at 40 percent, and lo and behold, we started pushing it to the very end where we’re running this bus at 100 percent vegetable oil right now, without any major modifications.” Bus 13 was pressed into service to shuttle graduates and their families around campus at commencement on May 22.

Since it runs on used oil from Yale’s dining halls, and since the dining halls are shut down for the summer, the bus will be running on all-biodiesel just until the end of this week. But Miley expects it will be power up on the same fuel once school starts again in the fall.

“It’s not so much that we’re going to run the whole fleet on the dining hall vegetable oil,” he said, “but it certainly is a great seedbed for the students who are involved in this project to bring this as a springboard, to what’s next, what else can we do?”

Don Relihan, director of support services for Yale, said the university took the step to clean up the bus fleet “because it’s looking to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and become a more sustainable campus. Going to B-20 is a step in that direction. I’m not sure if there’d be enough of the yellow diesel to put in many more buses, but we’d probably go to a higher percentage [than 20].” He adds that the two furnaces at the Yale observatory are powered by 100 percent veggie oil [B-100].

So, my trip down Whitney Avenue to Temple Street to College Street to Phelps Gate across from the Green was uneventful – no exotic aromas, no lurching or bucking from an engine that wondered what in the world was in the gas tank. Just like in airplane travel, I guess uneventful is the best way to go.

Chevron forms biofuels unit for ethanol, biodiesel

Chevron forms biofuels unit for ethanol, biodiesel

Last Update: 3:32 PM ET May 31, 2006

(Webmaster Note: Yet another of the “Big Oil” companies getting in on the biofuels gig…An example of “if you can’t beat them, join them” ?

 

DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

 

Chevron Corp. (CVX) formed a biofuels business to develop technology and commercial opportunities for the production and distribution of ethanol and biodiesel in the U.S.

 

The San Ramon, Calif., energy company also is building a biodiesel plant in Galveston, Texas.

 

The new biofuels business will operate within Chevron Technology Ventures, a unit focused on identifying, developing and commercializing emerging energy technologies.

 

Chevron blends about 300 million gallons of ethanol a year in the U.S. for use in gasoline.

 

Order free Annual Report for Chevron Corporation

 

Visit:

http://djnewswires.ar.wilink.com/?link=CVX

 

or call 1-888-301-0513

-Contact: 201-938-5400

 

(BW) Imperial Signs $12 Million Financing Agreement to Expand Biodiesel and Oil and Gas Operations

(BW) Imperial Signs $12 Million Financing Agreement to Expand Biodiesel and Oil and Gas Operations

By Business Editors
(c) 2006 Business Wire

EVANSVILLE, Ind.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 31, 2006--Imperial Petroleum, Inc. ("Imperial" or the "Company") (OTCBB:IPTM) announced today that it has signed an engagement agreement with a full service investment financial group providing a broad range of securities related services for raising $12 million through a private placement of a Convertible Debenture. The general terms of the Debenture include a conversion price at a 20% discount to the market with a floor price of $0.40 per share (prior to giving effect to a proposed four for one reverse split of the Company's common stock that is subject to shareholder approval) and an 9% coupon rate until converted, among other provisions. The funds will be used to (1.) retire the Company's remaining debt after the proposed sale and re-structuring of its current debt facility as previously announced; (2.) provide development capital for workovers of the oil and gas wells retained by the Company; (3.) fund the initial requirements of the biodiesel deal with Domestic Energy Partners and (4.) provide acquisition and working capital for additional growth opportunities in the biodiesel and traditional oil and gas sectors.

Jeffrey T. Wilson, President of Imperial said, "This financing will allow us to more aggressively pursue opportunities that we believe will drive our future growth plans both in the traditional oil and gas exploration and production sector and the emerging biofuels markets. We are extremely excited with the financial group who is participating in this financing as the underwriter since it will give our Company's story an audience in both the institutional and retail markets as we continue to grow."

Imperial, through its subsidiaries and affiliates, is active in crude oil and natural gas production. Imperial is headquartered in Evansville, IN.

This press release may contain "forward-looking statements" as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements are based on management's current expectations and are subject to a number of factors and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ materially from those described herein. Although the Company believes that the expectations in such statements are reasonable, there can be no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct.

For further information contact: Jeffrey T. Wilson, President (812-867-1433) or (email at jtwilsonx1@aol.com) or Jeff Bishop at IR Affiliates at (469-252-3035). The DEP website is located at www.betterbiodiesel.com.

 

Kurt Gordon Appointed Chairman of TelePlus Advisory Board

TMCnet - USA

... development company. Currently, he is also on the board of GreenShift Corporation, an environmental focused company. TelePlus is ...

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Kurt Gordon Appointed Chairman of TelePlus Advisory Board

By Kumar Amitav Chaliha

TMCnet Contributing Writer

 

Kurt Gordon, former CFO of MobilePro Corp., has reportedly joined Canadian telecom firm TelePlus Enterprises as chairman of the company’s newly constituted advisory board.

 

The addition of Gordon is a key move for TelePlus, which is seeking to exploit the rapidly growing North American prepaid wireless market and move from the verge of break-even point toward consistent profitability.

 

According to a press release, Gordon will assist in debt and equity financing, revenue and expense restructuring and savings, and fundraising. He will also provide advice on recruiting other key members for the company’s advisory board.

 In addition, Gordon will act as senior advisor to TelePlus CEO Marius Silvasan.

 

“I would like to welcome Kurt to TelePlus,” Silvasam said in the release. “I believe that his experience and network of contacts will be instrumental as we continue to grow TelePlus. This is exactly how we intend to leverage Kurt’s expertise.”

 

Silvasan said TelePlus’ revenue run rate for 2006 is set at $30 million, “and we intend to grow both organically and through strategic accretive acquisitions in the MVNO arena.” He said Gordon “will certainly be an asset to us in the coming months as we move forward on our expansion plans.”

 

Gordon has more than 16 years of experience in finance and operations. His special focus is on growing entrepreneurial environments - expertise he would be able to deploy fully at TelePlus, which is a fast-growing company.

 

“I am excited to join Marius Silvasan and the rest of the TelePlus team as we look to further grow its wireless and telecommunications products and services,” Gordon said in the release. “The TelePlus prepaid wireless services business model is first rate and is well positioned in the market place. Marius and his team have made significant accomplishments, including recording cash flow positive and net income positive results, while accretive acquisitions have been completed, a feat not easily achieved. I look forward to contributing to the company's growth initiatives, including organic growth, operation efficiencies and accretive acquisitions that will significantly increase shareholder value.”

 

Before joining TelePlus, Gordon was the CFO and consultant at MobilePro Corp. During his tenure there, MobilePro’s market capitalization grew from $3 million to over $100 million.

 

Between April 2000 and September 2003, Gordon served as CFO for TARGUS Information Corporation and was considered instrumental in fostering the firm’s largest revenue and employee growth phase. Between March 1997 and April 2000, he served in several capacities including director of finance for KSI Services Incorporated, a real estate acquisition and development company.

 

Currently, he is also on the board of GreenShift Corporation, an environmental focused company.

 

TelePlus is a leading provider of wireless and telecommunications products and services across the U.S.A. and Canada. It mainly targets the un-banked marketplace, one of the fastest growing segments of the telecommunications industry comprising credit-challenged customers.

 

Headquartered in St. Laurent, Quebec, Canada, TelePlus has offices in Miami, Fla.; Montreal, Quebec; and Barrie, Ontario.

 

To learn more about TelePlus, visit http://www.teleplus.ca/.

Brazil and Japan to sign ethanol deal

Brazil and Japan to sign ethanol deal

Rio de Janeiro.– Brazil and Japan will sign in October a pact presaging Japanese investments here of $1.29 billion to produce sugar-based ethanol fuel as well as biodiesel, the Brazilian Agriculture Ministry announced Thursday. The Japan Bank for International Cooperation will provide the funds to finance the Brazilian Energy Agriculture Program, according to an official communique released by the ministry. "The investment of the resources must begin in April 2007," said Agriculture Minister Roberto Rodrigues after a meeting with representatives of the Japanese bank. Tokyo's decision to invest in biofuels in Brazil resulted from a proposal presented in the Japanese capital by Rodrigues in May 2004, the report noted. "I took to the JBIC the idea of agro-energy as a model for change in the manufacturing of liquid fuels," he said. Brazil is the world's main producer and exporter of ethanol derived from sugar cane. With an annual production exceeding 17 billion liters (4.4 billion gallons), the South American giant is also a huge user of the fuel in its transportation sector. Last year, Brazil exported 2.6 billion liters (685 million gallons) of ethanol, mainly to the United States and Europe. The government is also pushing a program to produce biodiesel, diesel fuel derived from oilseeds such as ricin, soybeans, sunflowers and palm. A study conducted by Brazilian and Japanese experts on the biofuel sector in Brazil and discussed on Thursday includes goals and strategies for the production and marketing of ethanol and biodiesel, the socio-economic impacts of those activities and the responsibilities of the public and private sectors in the matter. For Japan, the compensation for the investments will be the ability to replace imports of petroleum products with agricultural derivatives, a shift that is important in ecological terms and represents a beneficial diversification of that country's dependence on liquid fuels, Rodrigues said. A new Japanese law obliges fuel suppliers to include 3 percent ethanol in each liter of gasoline, a requirement that generates additional demand for the alcohol of 1.8 billion liters (475 million gallons) per year and has forced Tokyo to seek to guarantee itself supply sources.

 

Learn about biodiesel at Coeur d'Alene workshop

Learn about biodiesel at Coeur d'Alene workshop

 

A workshop, "Biodiesel, From Field to Fuel," will be presented Thursday, June 15, at the Coeur d'Alene Resort by University of Idaho biofuels researchers.

 

Workshop topics will include growing oilseeds in the Pacific Northwest, processing oilseeds, biodiesel production practices and biodiesel economics.

 

Charles Peterson, Jon Van Gerpen and Dev Shrestha will lead the one-day workshop. They will review the steps for biodiesel creation from the field to final production. Additional UI speakers will include oilseed researcher Jack Brown, biopesticide researcher Matt Morra, animal and veterinary science researcher Alexander Hristov, and business and economics faculty member Doug Haines.

Early registration by Friday costs $75; later registration is $105. Fees include meals and technical materials. For schedule and registration information, follow the links at: www.uidaho.edu/bioenergy/.

 

 

Biofuel becomes more available in New York

Biofuel becomes more available in New York

ONEONTA, N.Y. Mirabito Fuel Group just became the second company to offer biodiesel for sale in New York state.President Joe Mirabito announced the company's decision this week at the fuel station in Oneonta where the fuel is now available.

Biodiesel is a blend of biofuel -- which is made from various vegetable oils -- and diesel. The fuel is a renewable energy source that can be produced within the state.

Officials at the New York State Energy and Research Development Authority say they have a goal of meeting 10 percent of diesel needs with biodiesel by 2012.

The biodiesel sold at Mirabito's newest pump was going for three-dollars-and-thirteen cents -- six cents more than regular diesel.

Eventually the company hopes to supply biodiesel at other stations around the state.

Kicking the oil habit

Kicking the oil habit

By The Associated Press
CHICAGO (AP) — The future of energy is bright in Said Al-Hallaj’s invention lab at the Illinois Institute of Technology, and not just because of the solar window that lies in development on a table.

All around the lab are advanced alternative energy projects that testify to the war on oil that’s proceeding quietly at laboratories and research centers across the country.

A tiny two-passenger electric car stands ready to drive 25 miles on one charge of its custom-designed pack of lithium-ion batteries, not unlike the ones that power laptops. A research assistant who’s working out the kinks on an electric bicycle motors down a hallway at 20 mph, triple the speed of the hybrid fuel-cell scooter developed here.

Elsewhere, Al-Hallaj and another professor are converting an SUV into a plug-in hybrid vehicle using lithium-ion cells to double the fuel efficiency and reduce emissions. And a team of students is converting a gasoline-powered lawnmower to use hydrogen as fuel.

Some of the projects could be manufactured commercially right now, said Al-Hallaj, research associate professor of chemical and environmental engineering and coordinator of IIT’s renewable energy program. The problem is cost, which keeps them from competing with oil — for now.

“The implications if we succeed are unbelievable,” Al-Hallaj said. “You’re coming up with a solution that is clean and advanced for the environment and people who are burdened by high prices.”

Solutions for high gasoline prices might seem painfully far off to drivers as summer travel season begins, but experts say the skyrocketing costs of oil and gas have given new momentum to the push to develop alternative fuels and alternative energy sources.

The efforts are readily apparent in the nation’s heartland, where a boom in ethanol is expanding and scientists at laboratories far and wide are working to turn agricultural waste or “biomass” such as switchgrass, wheat straw, cornstalks and miscanthus into a fuel called cellulosic ethanol that could be produced commercially to reduce U.S. dependence on oil.

In a separate burst of alternative energy developments unrelated to transportation fuels, wind farms are sprouting up across the country thanks to larger, more efficient turbines and coal-to-energy technology holds promise for pollution-free power plants in the future.

HYBRID VEHICLES

Don Hillebrand has worked on many alternative energy ideas as director of the Argonne National Laboratory in Argonne, Ill.

He is most excited about its potential to play a lead role among the national labs in developing plug-in hybrids.

A standard hybrid such as the Toyota Prius uses an electric motor, a small battery and a gasoline motor. With a plug-in hybrid, the small battery is replaced by much bigger battery packs that can be recharged through a standard 120-volt outlet.

With such a car, a driver could travel the first 10, 20 or even 40 miles of a trip on battery power before the vehicle would switch to the gasoline engine, Hillebrand says.

“You’ve now just, for most people, eliminated ... half of all the oil they use,” he says.

Drawbacks remain. Owning a plug-in hybrid would be a challenge for anyone who does not live in a single-family home with a garage or carport and a readily available outlet.

Before the plug-in hybrid could hit the road in mass numbers, the batteries would likely have to become lighter, less expensive and longer lasting. And there is concern about the capability of the electrical grid to support a nationwide fleet of such vehicles — although supporters say most would be charged overnight, during off-peak hours for utilities.

With a concerted effort to solve the battery problems, Hillebrand says, plug-in hybrids could be feasible for mass production in 18 months.

Because the technology is still being perfected, it’s unclear how long a battery would have to be charged to yield the optimum mileage. But supporters say they expect the electrical cost to amount to less than $1 per gallon.

ETHANOL FROM BIoMASS

By using other crops and forest waste along with the entire corn plant, not just the kernels, the Department of Energy says enough cellulosic ethanol could be produced by 2030 to lower U.S. gasoline consumption 30 percent.

Scientists at the National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research in Peoria, Ill., are among those on a mission to expand ethanol beyond a grain-based fuel, working intensely on how best to break down the cellulose of biomass into sugars and complex chemicals in order to produce ethanol economically. An optimal solution still might be a decade away.

Mike Cotta, who heads the U.S. Department of Agriculture-run center in Peoria, says many technical challenges remain to be overcome.

Researchers must come up with more inexpensive and environmentally viable ways of converting the polymers that the bulky biomass materials are made of into simple sugars.
But a lot has happened in recent years to move them closer to their goal, including great progress cited by Cotta in developing cheaper, more efficient enzymes to break the materials down.

“It’s just been totally crazy,” Seth Snyder, section leader for chemical and biological technology, said of the stepped-up demand for workshops and research information. “Everybody’s interested now. ... We’ve been saying all along we can make a big impact, and suddenly people are saying ‘Maybe these people are right.”’

Corn-based ethanol

The highest-profile existing oil alternative is ethanol.

The corn-based fuel might not hold the key to an oil-free future, but it is providing at least a stopgap remedy while scientists look beyond corn for an answer.

The runup in gas prices has softened for now the argument that ethanol is not economically competitive without federal subsidies, and it has accelerated plans for ethanol plants by farmers’ cooperatives and Archer Daniels Midland Co., the Decatur, Ill.-based agribusiness, among others.

“With petroleum prices being as high as they are, the stars are aligning for looking seriously at alternative fuels and chemicals,” said Hans Blaschek, a University of Illinois microbiology professor working on the conversion of corn into butanol, a promising alternative to petroleum-based fuels.

Still, ethanol’s potential is limited by cost and transport issues and the fact that even those seemingly endless fields of corn in the Midwest are finite.

Experts say corn-based ethanol isn’t ever likely to displace more than 10 percent of the gasoline supply.

“We just don’t have enough corn,” said Dan Basse, an analyst for Chicago-based AgResource Co. “If you turned every corn plant in the country into ethanol, there still wouldn’t be enough.”

BIODIESEL FROM VEGETABLE OIL

Another biofuel with promise is biodiesel, which uses vegetable oil and other nontoxic ingredients and can be blended with conventional diesel fuel. The trucking industry in particular has interest, and the Department of Agriculture says it can reduce carbon emissions by 78 percent.

But despite growing use in some areas of B11 — an 11 percent biodiesel fuel — overall consumption is still relatively tiny and biodiesel is not likely to be an everyday alternative for motorists in the near future. Only a handful of large biodiesel plants exist nationwide.

Dayton Keyes of the central Illinois town of Maroa decided not to wait. Angry about prices spiraling ever higher, the 37-year-old police officer built a small biodiesel reactor in his garage last year and now tanks up his Volkswagen Golf with a homemade fuel concocted from used cooking oil.

“It just ticks me off to no end to see that even a 10-cent change in the average fuel price kills us and our politicians are doing nothing to solve it,” said Keyes, who commutes 105 miles round-trip daily to his job in Springfield. “I thought, ‘Shoot, I’m going to try to do something about this.”’

Inspired by media reports about a cross-country excursion using cooking oil as fuel, he found information on the Internet, ordered a how-to book and invested close to $1,000 in constructing a reactor — plus a few hours every week brewing up batches of biodiesel.

The result is a fuel that costs him only about 70 cents a gallon, gets 45 miles per gallon and has converted him to a biodiesel proselyte who hopes to hasten the time when biofuels abound. He is trying to get a full-fledged biodiesel plant up and running.

“Renewable resources is a buzzword right now, but you don’t see evidence of it,” he said. “I’m trying to get a biodiesel revolution going where people will start making their own fuel.”

TexCom Inc. to Construct Biodiesel Plant in Oklahoma, Receives $6 Million Project Finance Equity Commitment

TexCom Inc. to Construct Biodiesel Plant in Oklahoma, Receives $6 Million Project Finance Equity Commitment
Thursday June 1, 2:25 pm ET

HOUSTON, June 1 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- TexCom, Inc. (OTC Pink Sheets: TEXC - News) today announced that it has received a $6 million project finance equity commitment to expand its Biodiesel operations into the state of Oklahoma. A group led by former University of Oklahoma and Dallas Cowboys Coach Barry Switzer has committed $6 million as the equity component for a Biodiesel plant to be constructed for purposes of serving the diesel fuel needs for the State of Oklahoma.

 

As part of the agreement, Barry Switzer will be retained by TexCom as a consultant and advisor.

Switzer stated, "Over the past few months, we have spent a lot of time with TexCom management and have introduced them to various state executives and legislators in Oklahoma. We feel that bringing TexCom to Oklahoma will provide jobs, a growing market for our agricultural products, and help to reduce our dependence on foreign oil. TexCom's management team is one of the few in the nation that brings practical permitting and large-scale plant construction and operations management to the Biodiesel industry. We've spent several months getting to this point and intend to be in construction by mid November."

Lou Ross, President of TexCom, Inc. stated, "The management team has been in discussions with the Governor and Mr. Switzer since early this year. This equity commitment and the responsiveness of Coach Switzer and the state officials were critical in our decision-making. This administration has proven itself a great advocate for expansion of clean fuels and business. Expanding into Oklahoma is another significant step for TexCom in extending our Biodiesel operations footprint." As previously announced, TexCom has executed a Preliminary Engineering Agreement with Lurgi PSI, based in Memphis, Tennessee, to build a 35 Million gallon per year Biodiesel Plant at the LBC bulk liquids terminal in Seabrook, Texas.

Since joining TexCom as President in December 2003, Dr. Ross has been the guiding force in TexCom's entry into the Biodiesel arena. He has been selected to present at the 2nd Annual Platts Biodiesel Investor Conference in Houston, Texas on Thursday, June 29th at 10:45 CDT. The Platts Biodiesel Conference is the premier forum for the investors to evaluate opportunity and advancement of Biodiesel as an alternative renewable fuel.

For further information on the conference and to register please visit: http://www.platts.com/Events/PC625/

About Biodiesel

Biodiesel is the name of a clean burning alternative fuel, produced from domestic, renewable resources. Biodiesel contains no petroleum, but it can be blended at any level with petroleum diesel to create a Biodiesel blend. It can be used in compression-ignition (diesel) engines with little or no modifications. Biodiesel is simple to use, biodegradable, nontoxic, and essentially free of sulfur and aromatics.

Biodiesel is registered as a fuel and fuel additive with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and meets clean diesel standards established by the California Air Resources Board (CARB). Neat (100 percent) Biodiesel has been designated as an alternative fuel by the Department of Energy (DOE) and the US Department of Transportation (DOT).

About TexCom

TexCom, Inc. is headquartered in Houston, Texas and is an early-stage, growth-oriented company with its primary focus on the production of Bio- Diesel. TexCom also has interests in liquid waste disposal servicing the petrochemical and drilling industries. Additionally, the company is engaged in exploration and production of oil and gas through its wholly owned subsidiary TexCom Partners, LLC.

For further information on TexCom Resources please visit: http://www.texcomresources.com

Forward-Looking Statements

Statements contained herein and the information incorporated by reference herein may be forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the "Exchange Act"). Forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as, but not limited to, "may," "will," "expect," "anticipate," "estimate," "would be," "believe," or "continue" or the negative or other variations of comparable terminology. We intend such forward-looking statements to be covered by the safe harbor provisions applicable to forward-looking statements contained in Section 21E of the Exchange Act. Such statements (none of which is intended as a guarantee of performance) are subject to certain assumptions, risks and uncertainties, which could cause our actual future results, achievements or transactions to differ materially from those projected or anticipated.

Forward-looking statements include statements concerning plans, objectives, goals, strategies, future events, or performance and underlying assumptions and other statements, which are other than statements of historical facts. These statements are subject to uncertainties and risks including, but not limited to, product and service demands and acceptance, changes in technology, economic conditions, the impact of competition and pricing, and government regulation and approvals. TexCom cautions that assumptions, expectations, projections, intentions, or beliefs about future events may, and often do, vary from actual results and the differences can be material. Some of the key factors which could cause actual results to vary from those TexCom expects include changes in natural gas and oil prices, the timing of planned capital expenditures, availability of acquisitions, uncertainties in estimating proved reserves and forecasting production results, operational factors affecting the commencement or maintenance of producing wells, the condition of the capital markets generally, as well as our ability to access them, and uncertainties regarding environmental regulations or litigation and other legal or regulatory developments affecting our business.

Our expectations, beliefs and projections are expressed in good faith and are believed to have a reasonable basis, including without limitation, our examination of historical operating trends, data contained in our records and other data available from third parties. There can be no assurance, however, that our expectations, beliefs or projections will result, be achieved, or be accomplished. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof. We undertake no duty to update these forward-looking statements.

 

Backing Biofuels

Backing Biofuels

Weller touts area efforts to advance alternatives

 

By Jo Ann Hustis

Herald Writer

Congressman Jerry Weller gave credit Wednesday to area farmers and investors who believe in biofuels.

 

“We grow corn and soybeans — renewable crops — and we would not be dependent on foreign sources, in many cases an unfriendly foreign source, to power our economy, so why not make a long-term commitment to promoting alternative fuel sources?” he said during the quarterly Grundy County Agricultural Roundtable at the county Farm Bureau building in Morris.

 

“And, many of you were willing to step forth with that objective in mind long before there was a national policy on biofuels.”

 

The Morris Republican told the roundtable of about 30 people Congress took three years to approve legislation that created the National Energy Bill.

 

The bill produced the country’s first-ever major commitment to promoting biofuels, he said.

 

“Changing the renewable fuels standard to require an increase in biofuels from four billion gallons today, to 7.6 billion gallons by the year 2011.

 

As a result, we’ve seen exactly what many people in this room have said would happen.”

 

That is, 26 different groups in Illinois are currently putting together the investment and talent to move forward with development and construction of biodiesel and ethanol plants around the state, said Weller.

 

“Some of the groups are right here (in the area). Some are even represented in this room,” he noted.

 

“The bottom line is we expect to see, in the next few years, five new ethanol plants and five new biodiesel plants in the 11th Congressional District alone.

 

“That means jobs here in town, better farm prices, and reducing our dependence on imported oil. It’s a good thing.”

 

Weller pointed out German manufacturer Steppen, which he said produces biodiesel in its Elwood and Hillsdale plants, and has doubled production since the new Energy Bill was approved.

 

“From 70 million to 140 million gallons,” he said. “We’re seeing a case where the policy is really making a difference at the local level.”

 

He noted that policy and substantial, long-term commitments are making a difference.

 

“I also think we need to do more, and I have introduced the Biofuels Act of 2006 to increase the renewable fuels standard to 25 billion gallons by 2025,” he said.

 

“And to provide tax incentives for investment in refinery distribution capacity, and tax credit for consumers to buy flexible fuel vehicles. Right now, there’s a tax credit to buy hybrids, and they’re selling a lot of them, regardless.”

 

Weller has been involved in promoting biofuels more than 20 years, from his time as a state legislator to now.

 

“The main point we’ve always said is, we’re over-dependent on foreign oil,” he noted. “About two-thirds of the oil we use is imported.

 

“Today we’re suffering the consequences of that, with 43 gasolines and the high price of diesel fuel.”

 

Weller believes everyone agrees the nation wants to replace imported oil with home-grown biofuels. He also said the new energy legislation doubles the amount for biofuels research from $70 million to $140 million,

 

“The bottom line is, increasing the biofuels standards to 25 billion gallons by 2025 would replace 1.6 million barrels of oil a day,” he said.

 

“That’s more oil than we import from Saudi Arabia and Venezuela. It would be good for our economy and create a lot of jobs here.”

Bates Hoping To Benefit From Biofuel

Bates Hoping To Benefit From Biofuel

PLAY VIDEO

Bates College is joining the ranks of other Maine universities and state government by switching to a biodiesel fuel mixture to heat some of it's residential buildings.

This March, Bates agreed to test some heating oil mixed with 5 percent biodiesel fuel in 12 small residential buildings. Around the same time bates' science department started developing a way to produce biodiesel right on campus.

And since the college is in the process of building a new dining facility, it is also looking to install a new biofuel conversion system so that the 1800 gallons of waste oil generated in the kitchen each year can be recycled to heat some college buildings and run some diesel vehicles.

"It's very exciting to see this happening. The amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has increased by 30 percent over the last 150 years because of our burning of carbon based fuels," said Bates Geology Professor Beverly Johnson. "To educate the students about the possibilities of using renewable carbon based fuel, as well as recognizing there's a move on campus to make it happen, it's very exciting," Johnson said.

Bates senior class decided that for it's senior class gift it would donate $19,000 to the college to be used for renewable energy.

Wall Lake plant begins making biodiesel

A $40 million plant in Wall Lake, Iowa, has started producing biodiesel.

 

Western Iowa Energy made its first batch of the soybean-based fuel additive last week, the company announced on its Web site -- www.westerniowaenergy.com.

 

The plant sent samples to an outside lab for independent certification, according to the Web site. By this weekend, WIE officials hope to have all the certification and paperwork completed so they can begin shipping biodiesel.

At full capacity, the WIE plant will produce 30 million gallons annually of biodiesel. In addition to soy and other natural oils, the facility can process biodiesel from animal fats.

 

The investor-owned facility created 30 new jobs in Wall Lake, a Sac County city of about 800. More than half of the 630 investors hail from Sac and two neighboring counties -- Carroll and Crawford.

 

The Wall Lake plant, on the south end of town near the airport, becomes the state's fourth biodiesel producer. The other three -- AGP at Port Neal near Sergeant Bluff, Soy Solutions in Milford and West Central Co-op in Ralston -- also are in western Iowa.

 

Additional area plants are also planned for Akron, Marcus and Storm Lake, Iowa. The most recent is the $70 million Raccoon River Valley plant planned near the Gateway Lighthouse along U.S. Highway 71.

 

Iowa's growing biodiesel and ethanol industries got a major boost in a series of bills signed Tuesday by Gov. Tom Vilsack. The legislation included a 3 cent tax break for every gallon of biodiesel sold and a 25-cent-per-gallon break for E85, a blend of 85 percent corn-based ethanol and 15 percent gasoline. Another new initiative requires that 25 percent of all fuel burned in the state be renewable by 2020.

 

Use of biodiesel fuel on the increase

Use of biodiesel fuel on the increase
Cleaner-burning fuel now competitive with regular diesel

Bruce Constantineau
Vancouver Sun

Thursday, June 01, 2006

Two years ago, six Lower Mainland municipalities took their first tentative steps toward using cleaner-burning biodiesel fuel for their vehicle fleets, consuming a combined total that year of about 10,000 litres of the environmentally friendly fuel made from vegetable oil or animal fat.
There are now more than a dozen municipalities using some form of biodiesel blend in their fleets, and total consumption is expected to be around two million litres this year.

That's still just a tiny drop in the total fuel-consumption bucket, but with conventional fuel prices rising, biodiesel is no longer 30 cents a litre more expensive than regular diesel. The two fuels are now very similarly priced.

"Now it's cheaper to be green," said Fleet Challenge Canada president Dennis Rogoza, whose organization promotes the use of cleaner-burning fuels.

Besides the municipal biodiesel program -- which includes the City of Vancouver's fleet of about 2,000 diesel vehicles -- there are test programs underway at BC Hydro and TransLink. Several private companies have also switched their fleets from regular to biodiesel fuel.

Rempel Bros. Concrete made the move about two months ago, while shipping terminal operator TSI Terminal Systems Inc. -- which runs Deltaport and Vanterm -- says it is the first company of its kind in Canada to make the switch. TSI maintenance manager Darcy Vaillant expects the move to reduce emissions by about 30 per cent this year, and 40 per cent by 2007.

TSI uses a 20-per-cent biodiesel blend -- a mixture that is 20-per-cent biodiesel and 80-per-cent regular diesel -- in its 227 diesel engines on container-handling equipment at the two ports.
"We weren't looking to save money, because it was going to cost us more [to make the switch]," Vaillant said in an interview. "But with regular fuel prices going up, the cost is about the same."
Rempel Bros. operations manager Stephen Szalkai said a biodiesel blend is currently being used to fuel 13 concrete mixers, one pump truck and one loader. If the test program goes well this year, the fuel will be used on the company's entire fleet -- including 100 mixers, 17 pump trucks and 14 loaders.

"If it remains competitively priced with regular diesel, it will be a no-brainer decision," he said. "I just think it's the right thing to do."

Skeptics fear biodiesel could lower a vehicle's performance levels, or create unwanted maintenance problems. But Vaillant said TSI hasn't experienced any problems with its 20-per-cent blend. He noted the low-sulphur diesel fuels produced today don't have the same lubricating qualities as fuels produced years ago.

"Biodiesel is a lubricant, so it can actually help engine performance," he said. "We were losing fuel pumps on some of our diesel engines due to the low-sulphur diesel, but since we have gone with biodiesel, we haven't had one go yet."

Vaillant hopes TSI can switch to 30-per-cent and 40-per-cent biodiesel blends later this year, and experience even greater emission reductions, if no performance or maintenance issues arise.

Szalkai said Canada has lagged far behind the U.S. and Europe in the use of alternative fuels, and he hopes that's about to change.

"Maybe this is a start," he said. "If a big industrial fleet like ours can make it work, I think people will take notice and realize it's economically viable and the right thing to do environmentally."

Canadian Bioenergy Corp. chief executive Ian Thomson, whose company is a wholesale biodiesel supplier, expects biodiesel consumption across Canada will grow from about three million litres last year to eight million litres in 2006.

"Three years ago, most people had never heard of biodiesel, or if they had, they thought about people taking grease from behind McDonald's," he said. "But now there are huge refinery-scale plants in the U.S. that use virgin soybean oil [instead of recycled oil]."

Canadian Bioenergy, based in North Vancouver, currently imports biodiesel fuel from the U.S., but it announced plans last year to build a commercial production facility in Western Canada capable of producing 40 million litres a year.

Rogoza said the biodiesel industry will receive a tremendous boost if the federal government ever follows through on plans to force minimum blends of five-per-cent biodiesel fuel to be sold throughout Canada.

"Then we would move from total annual biodiesel consumption of eight million litres to about 500 million litres. So it would become a mainstream fuel," he said.

bconstantineau@png.canwest.com

Students create biodiesel vehicle

Students create biodiesel vehicle

By Dan Shapley
Poughkeepsie Journal

FREEDOM PLAINS — Usually when officials catch children riding a four-wheeler on school property, it isn't cause for applause. But Tuesday, dignitaries at Arlington High School went beyond applause and suggested students taking turns on a four-wheeler were helping to achieve a lofty goal: energy independence.

"This is the future," U.S. Rep. Sue Kelly, R-Katonah, said. "We've got to end our dependency on foreign oil. We can grow our own oil."

The 10 students in Dan Listemann's Principles of Engineering honors course started the semester with the goal of creating a vehicle that would run on biodiesel fuel. The project was done in partnership with the Cornell Cooperative Extension, with sponsorship from IBM Corp., Dutchess County Youth Bureau and Piggott's Farm in Poughkeepsie.

Listemann's students raised $1,000 and secured donations of parts and equipment, including the four-wheeler, from Teixeira's Polaris in Hyde Park. Shop classes worked to build Go Kart-like vehicles that could use the same engine. Students from an advanced placement environmental studies class created the fuel from waste grease at the cafeteria.

Frame modified

Listemann's class altered the four-wheeler's frame to fit a diesel engine, installed it, and worked out the kinks. He wanted his students to work through the problem-solving that goes into such a conversion, and for the public to see everyday vehicles could be converted fairly cheaply and easily to run on alternative fuels.

"We replaced the whole engine," Richard Mohamed, a senior from Union Vale, said. "The biggest modification we made was to the frame, to fit the engine. It was so big."

The project had Brandon Kimball, a Town of Poughkeepsie senior, thinking big about the potential of alternative fuels. Though the process is still in its infancy, New York plans to subsidize a cellulosic ethanol plant that could transform grasses, willow trees and other plants into fuel.

"The husks from one farm would basically be enough to run a town," Kimball said.

Superintendent Frank Pepe said his conversations with big local businesses such as IBM have taught him students need more than schooling in core subjects. Future engineers need to be creative and entrepreneurial. They have to work effectively on teams.

The project gave dozens of students the chance to apply those skills.

It had Mike Quaranto, a Beekman sophomore, thinking about his next truck.

"With gas prices the way they are now," Quaranto said, "I'm thinking of making a biodiesel."

GREENSHIFT: TelePlus Establishes an Advisory Board and Appoints Kurt B. Gordon ...

TelePlus Establishes an Advisory Board and Appoints Kurt B. Gordon ...
PR Newswire (press release) - New York,NY,USA
... $100 million. Mr. Gordon also currently serves on the Board of Directors of GreenShift Corporation (OTCBB: GSHF). Mr. Gordon will ...

MONTREAL, June 1 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ - TelePlus Enterprises, Inc.

(NASDAQ OTCBB: TLPE) (Frankfurt: YT3.F) announced today that Kurt Gordon

has been appointed Chairman of the newly created Advisory Board and Senior

Advisor to CEO Marius Silvasan. Mr. Gordon served as the CFO and consultant

of MobilePro Corp. (OTCBB: MOBL) since December 2003 until recently. During

his tenure at MobilePro, the company's market capitalization grew from

approximately $3 million to in excess of $100 million. Mr. Gordon also

currently serves on the Board of Directors of GreenShift Corporation

(OTCBB: GSHF).

    Mr. Gordon will assist the Company in recruiting other key contributors

to the Advisory Board, assist in debt and equity financings and fund

raising, help maintain existing equity relationships, provide public and

investor relations advice and contribute to operation efficiencies and

revenue and expense restructuring and savings. Mr. Gordon has extensive

experience in finance and operations with special focus on growing

entrepreneurial environments. "I would like to welcome Kurt to TelePlus. I

believe that his experience and network of contacts will be instrumental as

we continue to grow TelePlus. This is exactly how we intend to leverage

Kurt's expertise" commented Marius Silvasan, CEO of TelePlus. "The

Company's revenue run rate for 2006 is set at $30 million and we intend to

grow both organically and through strategic accretive acquisitions in the

MVNO arena; Kurt will certainly be an asset to us in the coming months as

we move forward on our expansion plans" added Silvasan.

    "I am excited to join Marius Silvasan and the rest of the TelePlus team

as we look to further grow its wireless and telecommunications products and

services. The TelePlus prepaid wireless services business model is first

rate and is well positioned in the market place. Marius and his team have

made significant accomplishments, including recording cash flow positive

and net income positive results, while accretive acquisitions have been

completed, a feat not easily achieved. I look forward to contributing to

the company's growth initiatives, including organic growth, operation

efficiencies and accretive acquisitions that will significantly increase

shareholder value" said Kurt Gordon, Chairman of the TelePlus Advisory

Board.

    Prior to joining TelePlus, Kurt Gordon has served as Chief Financial

Officer of MobilePro Corp. (OTCBB: MOBL) since March 2004 and as a

consultant between November 2003 and February 2004. He has over 16 years of

experience in finance and operations with special focus on growing

entrepreneurial environments. Between April 2000 and September 2003, Mr.

Gordon was Chief Financial officer of TARGUS Information Corporation, which

pioneered the development of real time intelligence providing businesses

access to information about businesses and consumers who contact them by

telephone, Internet and wireless devices. Gordon was a key contributor

during TARGUS Information Corporation's largest revenue and employee growth

phase. Between March 1997 and April 2000, Mr. Gordon served in several

capacities including Director of Finance for KSI Services Incorporated, a

real estate acquisition and development corporation. Mr. Gordon also serves

on the board of directors of GreenShift Corporation (OTCBB: GSHF) an

environmental focused company whose mission is to develop and support clean

technologies and companies that facilitate the efficient use of natural

resources and catalyze transformational environmental gains. GreenShift

Corporation executes its corporate mission through their subsidiaries

including Veridium, a publicly traded company (OTCBB: VRDM), INSEQ a

publicly traded company (OTCBB: INSQ) and Mean Green Biofuels. Earlier in

his career, Mr. Gordon served as a public accountant and consultant in the

Entrepreneurial Services group of Ernst & Young.

    To view the Wall Street Research Report & Analyst Interview, please visit

    Interview: http://www.teleplus.ca/download/TLPEAnalyst.wmv

    Report: http://www.wallstreetresearch.org/reports/tlpe.htm

    To view our most recent Investology research report, please visit

    http://www.investologyinc.com/company.php?id(equal sign)5

    Listen to our full Q1 webcast at:

  http://www.newswire.ca/en/webcast/viewEvent.cgi?eventID(equal sign)1453540

    To view the CEO interview on the floor of the AMEX, please visit

    http://www.teleplus.ca/download/TLPE.wmv

    To view the most recent trader's report on TelePlus, please visit

    http://www.teleplus.ca/download/TLPEtrader.wmv

    About TelePlus (OTCBB: TLPE) http://www.TelePlus.ca

    TelePlus Enterprises, Inc. ("TelePlus") is a diversified North American

telecommunications company with offices in Miami, Florida; Montreal,

Quebec; and Barrie, Ontario. TelePlus was founded in 1999 and it has since

become a leading provider of wireless and telecommunications products and

services across the U.S.A. and Canada. In October 2003, TelePlus became a

publicly traded Company on the OTCBB under the symbol TLPE and since then

it has continued to grow organically and through strategic acquisitions.

The company's wholly-owned subsidiaries include TelePlus Wireless, Corp.

which operates a virtual wireless network selling cellular network access

to consumers and distributors in the United States under the "Liberty

Wireless" brand and TelePlus Connect, Corp. which resells landline, long

distance and Internet services in Canada under the "Telizon", "Freedom" and

"Avenue" brands.

    The statements which are not historical facts contained in this press

release are forward-looking statements that involve certain risks and

uncertainties, including but not limited to risks associated with the

uncertainty of future financial results, additional financing requirements,

development and acquisition of new product lines and services, government

approval processes, the impact of competitive products or pricing from

technological changes, the effect of economic conditions and other

uncertainties, and the risk factors set forth from time to time in the

Company's SEC reports, including but not limited to its annual report on

Form 10-KSB; its quarterly reports on Forms 10-QSB; and any reports on Form

8-K. TelePlus Enterprises, Inc. takes no obligation to update or correct

forward- looking statements.

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